• Natural Product Sciences
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.91-94
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• 2014

Column chromatographic separation of the MeOH extract from the tubers of Bletilla striata yielded seven phenolic components including four phenanthrenes, 3,7-dihydroxy-2,4-dimethoxyphenanthrene (1), 3,7-dihydroxy-2,4,8-trimethoxyphenanthrene (2), 9,10-dihydro-4,7-dimethoxyphenanthrene-2,8-diol (3), and 9,10-dihydro-1-(4'-hydroxybenzyl)-4,7-dimethoxyphenanthrene-2,8-diol (4) and three stilbenes, gigantol (5), 3',4"-dihydroxy-5',3",5"-trimethoxybibenzyl (6), and batatasin III (7). Their structures were determined on the basis of NMR spectroscopic data. Among them, compound 2, 3, and 6 were reported for the first time from this plant. The isolated compounds (1-7) were tested for cytotoxicity against four human tumor cell lines in vitro using a Sulforhodamin B bioassay.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.647-652
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• 2006

Plants of the genus Dioscorea have long been used as oriental folk medicine, and Dioscorea batatas Decne has been cultivated for healthy food in Korea. Although the bulbils were produced 2,000 ton annually, there are few reports for bioactive compounds in bulbils. In this study, three phenanthrenes and two phenanthraquinones were isolated from the aerial bulbils of D. batatas Decne, and their structures were elucidated. Among them, compound 2 (6-hydroxy-2,7-dimethoxy-1,4-phenanthraquinone) has not been reported previously. Evaluation of antimicrobial activities based on disk-diffusion assay, MIC and MFC showed the compound 12 (6,7-dihydroxy-2,4-dimethoxyphenanthrene) has strong antimicrobial activity with $25\;{\mu}g/ml$ of MIC and MFC against Candida albicans. Our results suggested that compound 12 has a potent antifungal activity, and the antimicrobial activity and its spectrum are modulated by hydroxylation and methoxylation of phenanthrene ring moiety of the compound.